Beating The Odds

Top 2. May 10, 2001 8:10 AM

» MyGrammie - Against all Odds

Being a young mother is hard enough, having been told negative generalities, apparently made you a strong positive parent. You proved the experts wrong. I was a mom at the age of 18 and struggled not to be anything like my family (alcoholic and abusive}, I vowed never to hit my children and refused to indulge in addictions of drug or alcohol. Promises to myself I still keep today. From the time I was pregnant I talked lovingly to the baby growing inside me, and made promises to unconditionally love and nurture the child, putting the baby I created first. All your helpful advise is the key to a well adjusted child, and having relationships with other role model parents is a plus for teen and young parents. Happy Mother's Day! Keep up the great writing - I believe your writing will inspire other young parents to believe in themselves and their children's optimistic future.

-- posted by MyGrammie

Top 3. May 11, 2001 3:25 AM

» snuggle - Great advice, young or not so young, parenting means sacrifice..

I wish people would stop judging young mothers and parents based on Age alone. My son was born when I was eighteen. I realise this isn't as young as some other mothers... but for the past 10 years, I have endured hunders if not thousands of astonished reactions when peopl erealise how well my son is doing.

Age is not the factor that makes us good ro bad parents, it is our dedication to our children.

-- posted by snuggle

Top 4. May 14, 2001 7:25 AM

» XLadyRogue - Re: Another excellent article!

In response to message posted by sugarmag:

Beating the odds is not just about raising your child well. To me it was about remaining married,finishing my education,being content,having enough money to afford the necessities in life and some of the desired things.

I have now been married 11 years, those were a hard 11 years..financially and emotionally. It took more than I thought I had in me to keep my marriage going and to keep me going as a person and a parent.

To me beating the odds is not having to struggle so hard to achieve a good marriage, stable finances and a good education and healthy kids. I don't feel I beat the odds.

-- posted by XLadyRogue

Top 5. May 14, 2001 7:26 PM

» pealii - teenage mothers by trula b.

I'm 25 the proud parent of a 8year beautiful boy, I'm happy to say that i had the support of my whole entire family, it makes a difference positivly. When I got pregnent so was everyone else my age(17) they had no support and became part of "the system" I hear from people who know a certain few how their doing these days, still no support and deterating quickly. My son is my life i graduated high school and I'm in college now my second career, a social worker. From my experience I hope to possible help some other teenage mom's through their time of need!!

-- posted by pealii

Top 6. May 14, 2001 11:48 PM

» Angelsmom1119 - Great Article

I myself am now 20 with an 18 month old. She is so smart she amazes her doctor everytime we go in. I have the support of my whole family. She started talking very early, started walking at 7 months. Could say her abc's and count to 3 at 1 year old. My parents were teen parents. They had my sister at 15 and 16 me at 18 my brothers at 21 and my other sister at 25. They were wonderful parents. I am not ashamed to say that I am 20 and my mom is 38. Big deal. I have one child. Im sure they were not expecting to become grandparents at 36 but O'well it happens. They all love my daughter. Everyone in my family can't get enough of her. Becoming a parent at an early age is not something I reccommend but I wouldn't change it for the world. I have done everything on my own with help from my family of course but none what so ever from her father since I was 2 months pregnant. Its a tough road but its the only one I would take. My daughter is everything to me. I love her more than I could have ever imagined. I really like your article. Im glad to know there are still people in this world who dont trash ALL teen parents. I know there are some bad ones out there but there are also a lot of 30 and 40 year old parents that are just as bad.

Thanks,
April mom to Angel Rose 11-19-99

-- posted by Angelsmom1119

Top 7. May 23, 2001 7:39 AM

» Trula - Thanks all

I appreciate the feedback on the article...like many of you, I also have people act all surprised and astonished that my daughter is such a great kid. She's 12 now, and has been an honor student her whole life, behaves well, is generally an all around nice kid. I think what irritates me the most is that people act like I had nothing to do with how she turned out, like she was automatically supposed to be unable to get good grades, have attention deficit disorder, or be an unruly child who couldn't get along with other kids, all that, and only escaped by the grace of god or something. I always want to shout, "Helloooooo!! I raised her right, I read parenting books, I asked advice from other moms, I followed my intuition, you know, I did the same things older moms do, jeez.

-- posted by Trula

Top 8. Jun 16, 2001 6:17 PM

» Dasangel_ - Re: Thanks all

In response to message posted by Trula:

I myself am a teen mother. I am 16 and my daughter is four months old and is very advanced, her doctor is amazed. Her father has not been apart of our lives since I was a month pregnant(at 15 years of age). It's hard but I wouldn't trade her for the world. My mom and best friend have been there for me throughout the whole thing. I wouldn't know what to do without them. Although I am still attending High School through a home-study program, and working, I make plenty of time for my daughter. I can only suggest to others a few things,

1. be prepared to see some friends drift away from you.

2. also expect to have many lectures, even from people you don't know.

3. Try your hardest to get through High school and go to college.

4. Don't depend on anyone to be there because they might not be.

5. It is hard being a teen mom especially by yourself, but don't marry because you have a kid, only marry if you were going to any way.

6.And please be careful what you do and who you bring around your baby.

Best wishes Dasangel_

-- posted by Dasangel_